P401 Risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes associated with inflammatory bowel disease medications: Reassuring insights from the United Kingdom PREPARE-IBD multicentre cohort study

Background During the early COVID-19 pandemic, the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) developed a risk stratification grid to inform the United Kingdom (UK) government regarding strict social isolation, termed “shielding”. This advised inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients thought to be most clinically vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection or severe COVID-19 outcomes, to stay at home and minimize face to face contact, even with household members. Those considered at highest risk included recent commencement of combination biologic and immunomodulator therapy, prednisolone ≥20mg/day, presence of comorbidities, age ≥70 years or clinically active disease in those receiving immunosuppression. Mesalazine was not considered to increase risk. An acknowledged limitation was an absence of COVID-19 risk data. This study sought to identify patient or IBD medication-related factors associated with severe outcomes from COVID-19.